I dipped a spoon into the bowl of mushy stuff the muraes gave me. They called it food, but with its tan and green-ish color and blobs of something, it seemed to be more like puke.

Over the few hours since Rosinka made-taught me to heal myself, a handful of new prisoners were dragged in. I kept looking for people I knew, my mother, Raoul, William, and even Merlin.

Everyone was a stranger.

I wasn't sure if I should be relieved or terrified.

The old man next to me, his name was Arioch, clinked his spoon against the side of his tin cup. "Child, what are you doing?"

Oh, ya know, making sure this is actually edible and not what it looks like.

I grinned a little. "Telling myself to eat and that this won't kill me."

Arioch sighed. "If you do not want it, I will take it. Over the time I have been here, I've learned not to complain about food. It may be what you get for a few days."

The bowl suddenly became my best friend. "Nope. It's my precious."

A grin flicked at the corners of his mouth. "Of course."

We fell into silence again, the only noise from the dungeon a slow drip of water plinking against a metal.

A flop of mush fell from my spoon. Steeling myself, I shoved the remaining food in my mouth and swallowed.

Hey, not that half bad.

"So," Another spoonful of blech entered my mouth. "how long have you been here?"

Arioch paused. "I believe it has been a few months, although I'm not sure. Days pass very quickly here."

"Ah." There was no way I could understand that. The hours seemed to last forever.

"Does anything ever happen around here, or do you just sit in a cell all day long?"

Anything like what, Clair? What, you think they fight to the death?

My questioned was answered, but not by Arioch. A scream came from the dungeon door. It opened, flooding the area with warm light for a split second before it closed and plunged us into cold darkness again.

Half-hearted moans slithered across the stone floor. The murae who came dragged something large, like a giant potato sack, beside him, scrubbing it on the floor.

Except he wasn't scrubbing it. It was scrubbing because it had to.

He had to.

A crazy spurt of light reflected off the pale face of a man. It wasn't much, but enough to tell he was beaten to a near pulp. Purple and blue spotted all over his skin. Red ran down the side of his head and near his eyes. The man barely limped along, holding his hand to gut as if to keep something in.

The murae shoved him forward. He crashed to the floor, cell door swinging shut behind him.

He didn't look like he was breathing.

"What happened?" I whispered. "How did he get like that?"

"Fighting," was my answer. "The Leader enjoys others' pain."

Fighting. He made his prisoners fight. We were all gladiators, easily expendable and a good source of entertainment.

"Your turn."

A start ran through my veins. I couldn't stop the sharp gasp of air that filled my lungs. It couldn't be my turn for anything. I wasn't ready. Wasn't prepared.

Especially not for whatever happened to the fallen man.

I closed my eyes, ready to feel the cold, greasy arm of a murae wrap around my skin and pull me to certain doom.

Instead, a rustle came from the cell next to mine. Then, Arioch sighed.

"If I must."

What?

Relief, relief that it wasn't me, flooded over me like a tidal wave. Then, it was replaced my a flaming guilt. Sure, not me, but Arioch.

I opened my eyes, just in time to see Arioch nod to me. His eyes were unreadable.

He must've know. He must've know he wouldn't come back. With as old as he was, it'd be over quickly.

By the time I opened my mouth to protest, the door slammed behind them.

The one person close to a friend I had was gone.

*****

I'm not sure how long I waited. It felt like years, but that wasn't right. Probably closer to hours.

But they were hours with only my thoughts to entertain me.

Fighting. So, not only did William, Merlin, and I have to run from the muraes for weeks, now we had to fight against them. At least, I assumed we fought against muraes. It may have been against each other.

Either way, it wouldn't end well.

The door to the dungeon had been opening and closing ever since they took Arioch. A bolt of fear always hit me every time the metal banged against stone. I didn't want to see him dead like the other man.

You will anyway.

"No, Rosi, I won't." I stared at my hands, knowing the lie was a bad one.

How and why do you think that?

The dungeon door opened again. Only a single murae went through.

"Because if I don't, I'm alone. Again. I don't know if Will's alive anymore, I'm not sure about Merlin, my brother's vanished, my father's evil, and my mother may also be dead. I just--"

My voice cracked. I took a deep breath. Crying wasn't allowed. It wasn't specifically said by the muraes, it was just something I didn't want them to see me do.

When I spoke again, my voice was nothing but a whisper. "I just need to hope this time, okay?"

Blam!

The door blew open once more. That time, the murae came in with someone. He wasn't dragging him; rather, shoving him along until they got to the cell next to mine.

He was shoving Arioch to the cell next to mine.

And he was untouched.

A grin flickered over his lips as he caught me staring. The murae opened the door, pushed him, and slammed it again, all the while glaring at the old man like daggers would shoot from his eyes.

When the murae left, I exploded. "You're alive!"

"Yes." He nodded his head like it was the obvious thing in existence--which it was, but the main question was--

"How?" Without thinking, I grabbed the bars separating us. "I mean, yay, you're alive, but how? And you're untouched at that!"

He looked away. "I am from Luschon," he mumbled. "We are taught how to fight from a very young age."

Something nagged me. Him being from Luschon--that I could believe--but it wasn't the whole truth.

His black eyes stayed locked on the ground. "We are a resilient kingdom, child. Giving up is not part of who we are."

For some reason, his words bothered me. Was that how he saw the rest of the world? He saw us as cowards, ready to surrender without a fight?

The dripping of water seemed like a battle drum. "It's not a part of who we are either."

He looked up, one hard on his long beard, the other hovering near his black eyes.

Black eyes. That's what was wrong. Arioch's eyes were brown.

And if his eyes changed color, then that meant...

My blood ran cold. "You're like me."

With a start, he looked away, the stones beneath us his only focus. "What do you mean?"

"Your eyes." If he had it too, we could leave! "Your eyes are black. They're supposed to be brown."

Every ounce of me wanted to run around in a circle, shouting. It all made sense. That's why he survived the fighting. That's why he came back unharmed.

We could escape. The two of us had magic, we could escape!

My excitement drained in one swoop. If we could've left, we would've already tried. He would've told me once he noticed me talking to Rosi. He wouldn't have said I was crazy.

He wanted his magic hidden.

I stared up at Arioch. He pursed his lips and nodded.

"There is no way to escape this cell using magic. I tried long ago."

"Oh." I flopped onto the floor, the flicker of hope extinguished. "So much for that, then."

He chuckled, then bent down so he was the same height as me. "I'm sorry for getting your hopes up."

I waved a hand in the air. "It's fine. I've been subject to worse. Just--" I bit my lip, unable to word the next sentence the right way.

"I didn't tell you about the magic because, where I am from, it is a death sentence."

"What?" My mouth dropped open. "What do you mean, 'death sentence?'"

Arioch leaned against the wall. His clothes rustled with the movement. "The leader--ruler, if you will--of Luschon decreed all magic unusable. It is not allowed. Anyone who does use magic is put to death."

My throat tightened. "That's horrible."

He nodded. "Yes, it is. No one has died because of the law yet, but people have tried to escape."

"Did you try?"

"No. I developed this only a week before the muraes came."

I crossed my arms over my chest. "Why would your ruler do something like that? It's horrible. Selfish."

There were a few more words I wanted to use to describe my thoughts on the matter, but I kept my mouth shut instead.

A murae walked through the door, dragging another person behind him. This time, it was a woman with short, blonde hair. Her chest rose and fell slightly. Drops of blood trailed behind them, marked the path they had taken.

"Perhaps the ruler was afraid of magic," Arioch whispered. "Perhaps he did not know the consequences."

I sighed. "Maybe, but for a country you claim as brave, he committed an act of cowardice."

Arioch nodded. His eyes followed the small river of water running by. "That is true. Because of his law, others have had to become braver than ever. Those of us with magic," he pointed to himself. "have had to hide it from everyone we know. We've had to learn to use our abilities in subtle ways, not loud ones."

"How so?"

A rat scurried by. As quick as lightening, Arioch snatched it up. Its arms and legs shot out, clawing at him with such sipped his hand should have been torn to pieces.

He dropped the rat. Not one scratch marred his skin. "Well, we can create a small barrier around ourselves. It's not much, but is useful."

"What else?"

"Plenty of other tricks. We can sneak food, make ourselves invisible, run slightly faster than everyone else--make others lose their balance," he added with a smirk.

Before I could think, words came tumbling from my mouth. "Could you teach me?"

A short laugh was my answer. "What can you give me in return? I do nothing for free."

"I can teach you to control the one inside you."

Horror filled my stomach. I wanted to clamp my hands over my mouth, to snatch back the words I just said, but it was too late. They were already out there, pulling his answer from him.

You're welcome.

Rosinka.

Rosi, I can't do what I just said! I can't control you!

If anything, she felt like she laughed. Of course you can't. I'm the one who spoke a moment ago, not you.

I clenched my fists. Then you made me lie.

It's for your own good.

"Alright." Arioch nodded. His hand slipped between the bars. "You have yourself an agreement."

He didn't even see if you were lying! What an old fool.

My arm shot forward and my hand grasped his. Through the cell bars, we shook.

We shook on a lie.

A clang made me jump. A murae stood at the door to my cell, holding it open. "Your turn."

No. It wasn't. Couldn't be.

My eyes flickered over to the opposite side is the dungeon. The woman's rattling breaths traveled the entire room.

When I didn't move, the murae grabbed my arm and snatched me. Cold traveled through my arm, into my chest, where it burned like a raging fire.

He dragged me toward the door, Arioch looking on with something like pity on his face.

As soon as we stepped outside the dungeon, the world went dark. I sucked in a breath. Fear gnawed at my chest, hit it, stabbed it, with all the strength it had.

Then the murae let go and the light came back.

I blinked. White light beat against my eyes.

Then I froze. A semi-circle of at least twelve muraes surrounded me. In the center was King, his hand placed against the side of his head, bored expression on his face. He sat on a throne as red as blood. On his right side was a murae larger than the rest who held a sword and dagger stained with red.

On his left was William.

My breath caught in my chest. Will's eyes met mine for a split second, then glazed over me. His hand tightened against King's throne. The wood on his face was splintered and cracked, twisted into knots which turned to skin.

He shook his head with such little force it could've been mistaken as a shudder.

King's eyes fell on my. Something flickered in his eyes. With a nod, he pointed to William.

My friend walked down the small stairway that led up to try throne. He swayed the slightest bit on the last step, then steadied himself, fists clenched so hard his knuckles began to turn white.

William walked past one of the muraes and grabbed a knife from him. He held the weapon as tightly as he could, eyes locked on mine.

My throat constricted. Was King--was King going to make us fight? He couldn't.

I couldn't.

Will stopped in front of me, then jutted out the knife so the hilt faced me.

"Take it," he ordered, voice flat. "This is your weapon."

My hand closed around the leather handle. Quickly, William pulled the blade closer to him.

"Don't use magic," he hissed. "They'll punish you."

I breathed out in a rush. A tiny grin flitted across my lips. We weren't going to fight.

But no magic... this would hurt.

William let go of the knife and moved back up to King, who raised two of his fingers and circled them.

"Begin."

Begin?

Pain erupted in my side. I cried out, flipping around to see who hit me.

Another hit came to my legs.

Then ribs.

Then head.

The world fussed out into nothingness. Something wet dripped from my nose to the floor. I squeezed the knife tighter.

When the next punch came, I lashed out. The metal blade met some resistance as it cut through the murae's arm.

He responded by grabbing my neck.

His fingers were like spiders crawling on my skin. They tightened like a web stringing around my throat. Red tinged the edges of my vision. A gasp started to well up in my chest but was silenced by the snake.

"Enough."

The hands let go of my neck. Air rushed in all at once, drowned me in the necessity for life.

The murae that held me was face down on the floor, blood seeping from small teeth marks on the back of his neck. King sat back on his throne, the teeth on this bottom right head dripping with crimson.

Everything blurred. I felt myself being yanked around, but by what I didn't know.

All I knew for sure was that King stopped the fight. I would've been gone, dead, no longer a problem for him, but for some reason, he didn't want that. My life mattered more to him than one of his muraes.

That, I could use.

_____________________________________